


A Light in the Dark

by StarfighterPilots (DreamersAndThieves)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fireflies, M/M, hand holding, literally the fluffiest fluff you can imagine, soft fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 20:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15714408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamersAndThieves/pseuds/StarfighterPilots
Summary: In a break from the hectic times of defending the universe and running the Galra Empire, Keith and Lotor head to Earth for a little vacation.(Written before s7, and takes place sometime in the middle of s6 before things Ramp Up.)





	A Light in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This was for a gift exchange in a discord server I help run (Lotor Defense Squad) for an event called Lotor's Vacation Event! My prompt was Lotor sees fireflies for the first time for user ItsPaige!

It had been many human months since Zarkon had died and Lotor had assumed control of the Galra Empire, and peace was spreading fairly quickly throughout the galaxy. Though there were quite a few blips in the radar here and there from those who did not agree with what had happened, see, the murder of Zarkon, the sitting Emperor for ten thousand years plus. And then there were the people who did not agree at all with the unconventional Kral Zera ceremony, see: Sendak and the other generals that had miraculously survived the space dumpster fire that was the entire ceremony. Lotor felt like he himself had barely survived even though he thought of himself as a fairly hardy being, most Galra were.But had the tiny Blade not shoved him out of the way then he surely would have been a crisp on the bloody ground of the ceremony.

He was glad that it turned out the way it did because as of right now, he and the paladins were on good terms, the New Empire was running fairly smoothly after the fairly large blips of the outsiders trying to assassinate him very unsuccessfully. Some of the outer reaches of the Empire surely hadn’t heard the news of Lotor ascending to the throne and ridding it of Zarkon yet, but at least eighty percent of the entire population and planets under what was now his control had been broadcasted a signal of peace and change. And now with the paladins and Voltron on the same side as the Empire, true peace was certainly within reach. It was just the other generals and warlords that were causing issues.

But now, now the paladins seemed to have something urgent beckoning back to their home planet. He’d only spoken to them a few times when their paths crossed or peace talks were in order. And suddenly, he’d been roped into another adventure with them that he’s not quite sure is a good one. Lotor has been to hundreds of different planets before, bringing changes that were mandated under Zarkon, but also letting them rule themselves, be their own civilizations. But never for a _vacation_ or otherwise non-business visit. He was told strictly by Keith that it was, in fact, just a vacation visit. Keith, who was sort of a paladin, a Blade member, and his almost boyfriend.

Since Keith was with the Blades, he and Lotor got to talk much more often, and they took a liking to each other after Keith was given the go ahead to be the Blades ambassador of sorts. More time to talk and figure out each other’s interests lead to a _date_ and then a few more dates. Which then lead to Keith asking Lotor to come back to his home planet for said vacation.

* * *

 

Cut to two human months later, which Lotor still hadn’t gotten quite the hang of yet. Human time was dictated by their planets movement around their star, which made absolutely no sense if one wasn’t on said specific planet and had a hang of their day, hour, and minute time lengths. Galra standard time relied on a standard vibration of a molecule that could be calculated by any species or civilization that was even remotely competent with mathematics. (Keith did enlighten him on the way to their “ _Earth_ ”, that humans did have an atomic clock that functioned that way based on a vibration of the element Cesium, though he had no idea what element that was. He then informed Keith that, should he get in contact with higher up scientists, that they should switch to an element more widespread, like gases.) Lotor voiced his concerns of the human time system, but his small boyfriend reassured him that he could secure a watch, aka a timekeeper.

Keith also informs Lotor once they land that Allura and the others were going to speak with the Galaxy Garrison then disperse to see their families. And once they do land on Earth, Keith secures a ride from the human’s odd facility, which, most certainly, did _not_ look safe at all. The Blade assures him that the extremely red and flashy thing with a motor that he’s told hovers is safe.Lotor was also told that Keith was going to take him back to the home that he had been living in before the whole Voltron debacle.

As it turns out, Keith lived in an abysmal little run down shack that hardly looked livable, _even if_ the inside was fairly quaint and had the necessities. Those necessities being a place to sleep, what seemed to be running water, and a roof. It… looked comfortable enough? But Lotor doesn’t make any comments on the situation since this, in fact, was Keith’s home and he seemed proud of it.

“So other than your very small home and the predicament of only one bed,” Lotor starts, peeking around the shack and brushing the dusty curtains aside to look out the even more dusty and dirty windows. Outside, the sun was setting and painting the sandy landscape with vibrant oranges, reds, and beautiful pinks. “What did you want to show me out here?”

“I just wanted to show you where I lived.”

The unamused tone to Keith’s voice had Lotor taking a step back and looking at the smaller half Galra once again. He hadn’t meant for the statement to sound rude. So he steps back toward the smaller and wraps his arms around the other’s shoulders, pressing a soft kiss to Keith’s forehead. There was slight resistance from Keith, but he let Lotor pull him close and accepted the attention.

“I knew that you lived alone in a desert. It does suit you, though. Living in the desert. I’ve narrowed down that you and your mom are at least _some kind_ of desert subspecies of Galra, little to no fur, agile and quick. It only fits. Except the fact that you were alone, you know that most, if not all, Galra are very social creatures.” Lotor explains then presses another kiss to Keith’s temple.

Keith rolls his eyes, having heard this spiel a thousand times before from multiple other Galra, including his mother and Kolivan. “I know. And other than my apparently _deplorable_ living conditions, I wanted to show you the lightning bugs. They’re all over the desert this time of year.”

The younger grabs Lotor’s hands and starts to lead him outside onto the creaky porch and into the darkening atmosphere of the desert. The entire sky looked like it was on fire, but it was a lot dimmer than when he looked out the window for just a few minutes ago. It takes a few more moments for Lotor’s brain to process what Keith had said. _Lightning_ _bugs_. “Earth has bugs that spew lightning?”

Keith snorts then turns back around to look at his purple skinned boyfriend. “No. Lightning bugs don’t ‘spew lightning’, some people also call them fireflies.” Keith wants to laugh even more at the widening of Lotor’s eyes at _fireflies_. In all honesty, Keith hadn’t gotten over explaining earth things to aliens, some of the reactions he got from his fellow Blade members and mother were hilarious. Especially when he explained that almost every human had a vehicle, most of the Blades wondered how the planet had even survived until now once the fuel source was explained. Or that most households had whole drawers or sets of knives just for cooking, he got an array of shocked gasps then. “They’re really small bugs about the size of your fingertip or smaller, and their back halves glow or flash.”

“And they should start coming out as soon as it gets darker.” Keith continues on then settles down onto the old wooden steps. Lotor follows the other half-Galra out onto the porch and stands for just a few moments longer, looking out into the darkening sands of the Utah desert. Utah being the _state_ that is within Keith’s home _country_ on his home _planet_ within an entire solar system. Lotor was past trying with these odd humans, honestly, he would just smile and nod with whatever they were saying. But once the sun does start to disappear behind the rocky outcrops, Lotor leans against the posts holding the little overhanging roof up and hums. It was nice here if he ignored all the human-ness (they just made it too odd). Earth deserts were like a few of the planets he visited.

But then the fireflies started to come out. Lotor was astonished at how beautiful they were, little flashes from tiny bugs all throughout the landscape, they seem to have come from nowhere, but Keith assures them that they just come from the ground.

Lotor does step down from the porch and onto the packed sand around the shack. He takes a few steps outward then smiles as the fireflies flash around him just an arms length away. These tiny creatures that numbered what had to be in the _thousands_ were just flying about, and Keith had told him they come out every night in this warm season.

The new Emperor didn’t realize when Keith pushed himself up off the steps and came over to stand at his side, this time with a small jar made of glass. “Let’s try to catch them.” Keith says with a mischievous smile.

“Catch them.” Lotor deadpans then looks skeptically at the jar.

Keith rolls his eyes as a response and steps away from Lotor to start running around the little yard. Lotor hears the little _whoosh_ of the jar being forced through the air to catch the small bugs, and it surprisingly only takes a few moments for the smaller to catch a few. The paladin screws the cap onto the jar and walks happily back to Lotor as the bugs flash inside. “What? Have you never had fun before?” Keith asks jokingly, but Lotor shakes his head and takes the jar from Keith’s hands, holding it up to inspect the trapped bugs. He then unscrews the cap to let the bugs fly free, smiling down at Keith as he starts to run around the yard to try and catch the fireflies on his own.

They keep at it for a while, catching and releasing the fireflies and laughing if either of them trip or the instance where one of the bugs landed on Lotor’s nose, flashing like his Altean markings did sometimes. “I always wondered what I would look like with glowing yellow and green markings instead of whitish-purple.” Lotor says, causing both of them to dissolve into laughter once again. The pair keep running around and laughing until it’s around one in the morning and the bugs gradually started to go back into their little dens in the sand. Lotor was exhausted for a few reasons, one being that he wasn’t used to the gravity and atmosphere of earth just yet, but more importantly, he was exhausted because of how much fun he had with Keith.

The two of them ended up on the porch again, sitting on the steps side by side with their shoulders bumping against each other, still coming down from the rush of having so much easy, carefree fun while on their little vacation away from saving the entire universe from all evils and defending it from whatever it may need to be defended from. It’s only a few minutes later that Keith rests his head against Lotor’s shoulder, his eyes starting to fall shut against his will. It was then that Lotor realized that it was fairly late, the sun had gone down and everything around them was dark, lit only by the reflected light from the moon and the stars that were light years away. Lotor glances down at Keith’s hand, and in a moment of boldness, he reaches to thread his fingers through Keith’s. The paladin doesn’t seem to mind, in fact, he gently squeezes Lotor’s hand. Both of them smile even though neither could see and Lotor gently rests his cheek against the black mop of Keith’s hair.

They would stay that way for a few more hours, watching the stars twinkle and possibly catching a few stray meteors burning up through the atmosphere before going back inside to warm up and vie for warmth with the few blankets that Keith kept at the shack. But maybe, Lotor thinks, Earth wasn’t so bad. And maybe Lotor wouldn’t mind staying with Keith on his home planet for a few more of these vacations.


End file.
